


Who's Mr. Right?

by ammstar11



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Will, Pre-Relationship, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:14:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24938119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ammstar11/pseuds/ammstar11
Summary: A new camper arrives at camp half blood and develops a crush on the cute blond healer and notices that he seems to be pining for the creepy-goth-must-be-an-asshole kid that looks like death. He then becomes fixated on trying to prove that he’s much better because he’s such a good person and way better than that freak.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Comments: 24
Kudos: 56





	1. Jeremy's POV

**Author's Note:**

> I was reading (laughing at) a post on tumblr and this came to mind. Sorry but this had to be done…  
> Jeremy is my OC; I don’t own anyone or anything recognized.  
> P.S. If any of you are named Jeremy I’m sorry for the name choice I just picked one at random.

Jeremy arrived at Camp Half-Blood after being told that he was something called a Half-Blood, a child of some Greek goddess, what was her name? Irene? No- Iris that was it. Some goat guy had come up to him saying that he was the child of a god or goddess and that in order to keep him safe from monsters that apparently were also real but just hidden from mortals by some magical fog- Mist- that he needed to go to this camp where he’d meet others like him.

Jeremy wasn’t too thrilled but once they got attacked by some wired giant thing that wanted to eat them he was all aboard the crazy train if it meant living.

Camp Half-Blood was odd but not so bad really. Once you got past the mythical creatures, real lava on the climbing wall, the guy in charge being half-horse (that counted as mythical creature right?) and a few other things it was an okay place.

Though what really convinced him that this camp might not be such a bad place was the cute medic he met upon arriving at the Big House.

The cute guy seemed to be about his age, he had shaggy blond hair, sky blue eyes, tan skin dusted with freckles and a beautiful smile that had stopped him in his tracks when he crossed paths with him on his way to watch some orientation video or something.

“Hi, you’re new around here right?” the blond asked when he ran across him in the hall.

“Uh yeah. I just got here.” he said not really sure how else to reply.

“Well it’s nice to meet you, I’m Will Solace. I’m head of the infirmary and Cabin 7, that’s the Apollo cabin. Which godly parent do you have?” he asked still smiling.

“I um uh Iris.” he stammered feeling stupid.

Will nodded. “The head of that cabin is Butch; he’s usually by the Pegasus pen.”

Will said like that was a totally normal thing, which around here probably was… okay then.

“I can show you around when you’re done watching the video if you want. I’m used to showing new people around.”

Wow cute and courteous, maybe he should take him up on that offer. “Sure, that sounds good. I’m Jeremy by the way. Jeremy Stans.”

“Nice to meet you, I’ll see you when the video is over.” Will said with one last smile and a wave before he headed back to the infirmary.

Well might as well get this video over with Jeremy thought and went to the room he had been heading to before meeting Will.

…

“I’m sure this is all kind of a shock huh?” Will asked as he led the way out of the Big House.

“Yeah kind of.” Jeremy followed as he led the way doing this little tour guide routine as if it was second nature to him.

“There’s the Green, over there are the cabins, that there is the dining pavilion where we have our meals and make offerings to the gods, the head of your cabin will explain what to do. That’s the amphitheatre and where we have bon fires at night and sing camp songs. There’s the forest, don’t go in there alone because there are monsters in there.”

So much for this place being safe…

“That’s Thalia’s tree, it is part of the barrier that protects camp, don’t get too close or the dragon will attack you. You’ve already seen the climbing wall. Over this way is the arena where you will do combat training.”

He led the way into the arena and Jeremy saw what looked like a class being taught. There was a group of younger campers dressed for training watching as three older campers seemed to be doing a combat demonstration.

There was a tall blond boy with a gold sword, another tall boy but this one with black windswept hair and a bronze sword, and a shorter possibly younger boy also with black hair that was somewhat long and a black sword.

Will smiled as he watched the three of them. “Those are Jason Grace,” he pointed out the blond, “Percy Jackson,” the older dark haired one, “and Nico di Angelo.” The smaller one.

Maybe he was just imagining it but he swore Will’s smile grew slightly at the mention of the last one.

“They’re pretty famous around here so don’t be surprised to hear a lot about them, they saved Olympus and the rest of the world a few times.”

Wait what? Saved the world? What was this a cartoon?

“They’re sons of the Big Three; you know Zeus, or in Jason’s case Jupiter since he’s from the Roman side, Poseidon is Percy’s dad, and Hades is Nico’s.”

There it was again. Jeremy looked over at this Nico guy and from what he could see there was nothing really all that great about him, just some scrawny little punk/goth looking kid that needed a haircut. According to the video Hades ruled the Underworld so didn’t that make this kid like the prince of the damned or something?

“Nico’s sometimes known as the Ghost King because of his powers over ghosts.” Will said and then blushed possibly not meaning to talk so much about one guy in particular but Jeremy pretended not to notice. He was a nice guy after all.

“Anyway these three are like the best sword instructors here at camp so feel free to practice with them; they’re all pretty cool and easy to talk to.”

Seriously? These guys were some great war heroes and celebrities but you could just walk right up to them and chat them up? What was with this place? If it were Jeremy in their place he’d like a little more respect than that.

For now it seemed the demonstration was over and the students began to pair off to practice on their own. The other three begin to make their way over and waved to Will who waved back.

“Hey Will.” Percy greeted with a friendly smile. “Who’s your new friend?” he asked as they reach the two of them.

“Hey guys, this is Jeremy, he’s new at camp, just got here today actually.” Will said as he introduced him to the other three.

“Hi nice to meet you, Will says you guys are pretty important around here.” Jeremy said as he shook hands with Percy and Jason while Nico stood off to the side and gave him a nod before speaking to Will.

“Hey, you here to check up on me or something Solace?” Nico asked while Percy and Jason tried to strike up a conversation with Jeremy.

“So Jeremy what do you think of camp so far? Pretty freaky at first huh?” Percy asked with a light laugh and Jeremy laughed a little and agreed.

“You can say that again.” But he was trying to hear what Will was talking about with Nico.

“Not at all Deathboy, I trust you. Besides I know Jason would just fly you to the infirmary the instant you do anything dangerous.”

Nico rolled his eyes and Jeremy had a distinct dislike for him. Must be one of those I’m too good for your feelings to care types. Well that was fine, as soon as Will figured out the shrimp was a total jerk he’d see that Jeremy was the nice guy that he deserved.

“Stop treating me like some china doll or something, I’m not going to break at the slightest touch. I can take care of myself and Jason knows I’d send him to my father’s kingdom if he tried to fly me anywhere I didn’t want to go.” he sent a warning glare over to Jason who held up his hands as if to ward him off.

“Hey man, only want to look out for you. Don’t worry I wouldn’t do that unless it was an emergency and you couldn’t make it on your own.”

What kind of jerk threatened his friends when they only wanted to help? Yeah this guy was definitely a major asshole Jeremy thought as he listened to the exchange.

“Anyway, it’s getting closer to dinner so I’m going to take Jeremy over to meet Butch and the rest of the Iris campers. I’ll see you guys later.” Will said before leading Jeremy away.

“See you later!” Percy called while Jason tried to reassure Nico that he wouldn’t be whisking him away to anywhere anytime soon.

“What was that about?” Jeremy asked; he figured it would be natural to be curious about what they had just said seeing as he was still new here and all.

Will laughed and shook his head but still had a soft smile on his face that one might describe as endearing. “Nico tends to go a little over board and Percy and Jason think of themselves as his sort of older brothers and want to make sure that he stays out of trouble.”

“And what about you?” he asked lightly like he only held a mild curiosity but he really wanted to know exactly what he was dealing with here.

Will blushed from his neck all the way to his roots and the tips of his ears, okay so he really did have a thing for short dark and creepy.

“Well I’m in charge of healing so I want to make sure that everyone is okay, you know?” he laughed a little but it came off as more nervous than light hearted like he likely intended.

“Well I hope that means you care about my well being too then.” Jeremy said but Will didn’t seem to pick up on anything.

“Well sure, new campers need a little more care until they get the hang of things around here.” Will said. “Oh there’s Butch now. Butch! We have a new Iris camper for you!” Will called as he waved to the older larger boy standing by what looked like stables.

He came over and Will introduced them. “Butch this is Jeremy Stans, he just got to camp today. I gave him a tour but why don’t you take him to meet the rest of your cabin before dinner?” Will said cheerily.

Butch agreed and told Jeremy to follow him.

“I need to get back to my own cabin now, but I’ll see you later okay?” Will said in his usual friendly manner before heading off.

Jeremy was kind of disappointed but he figured he’d just go talk to him later at some point.

“I see you’ve already met Solace, he’s usually really friendly so you should get along just fine.” Butch said as he led the way over to their cabin.

Jeremy was hoping he and Will would get along better than just fine.


	2. Will's POV (mostly)

Will sat with his siblings at the Apollo table during dinner in the dining pavilion. They all waited while Chiron introduced the new camper.

“We have a new camper joining us today; this is Jeremy Stans, son of Iris.”

The Iris table cheered and everyone else clapped.

Will met Jeremy’s eye and gave him a friendly smile to help him not feel nervous, it could feel pretty awkward having to stand before the entire camp for the first time.

After Chiron was finished Jeremy went to sit with his brothers and sisters at the Iris table and dinner began as usual.

Every now and then Will would look over and either catch a look from Jeremy and wave to him or look over at Nico to make sure everything was okay with him.

The giant war and battle with Gaea hadn’t been that long ago but Nico seemed to be doing immensely better ever since his three day stay in the infirmary with Will keeping a close eye on him whenever he could or getting Jason, Percy, Annabeth or Piper to help while he was busy. He was glad to see Nico doing better, he even excepted that he really did have friends now and people that cared about him and since realizing that, he and Will hadn’t had as many arguments on the matter but they were both still so suborn that they argued anyway.

Will wanted to laugh but held himself back, Deathboy was going to be just fine and he would spend the rest of eternity arguing with him if that’s what it took to make sure things stayed that way.

Will was pulled from his thoughts when his brother Austin nudged him in the arm with his elbow.

“So what do you think of the new guy? Heard you were the one showing him around earlier.” Austin said and Will nodded as he took his attention away from Nico for now.

“Yeah, he seems like a nice guy. Pretty friendly and easy to talk to.” Will said as he continued to eat his dinner. He didn’t see the looks Austin and Kayla exchanged after peeking over at the Iris table and seeing Jeremy still looking over at Will.

“So, spend much time with Nico lately?” Kayla asked breezily causing Will to almost choke on his drink but recovered quickly.

“I uh y-yeah, when I was showing Jeremy around we stopped by the arena and I talked with Nico, Jason, and Percy.”

Again Austin and Kayla looked at each other as if to say _what are we going to do with him?_

“So, have you confessed your undying love for the Ghost King yet?” Austin asked quietly so that only Will and Kayla would hear and was rewarded with Will’s face flushing so red he rivaled the Ares cabin.

“What?!” Will hissed at them praying to all of the gods that no one else had heard that.

“Come on Will, it’s not like it’s all that much of a secret.” Kayla said with a shrug as she continued eating just as nonchalant as if this was common knowledge or something…

Wait was it?! Nico hadn’t said anything and neither had anyone else until now.

“Why do you say that?” he asked, treading carefully with his words. Every Apollo camper knew that words were important and must be used carefully.

“Well it seems like things might just get a little more interesting around here in the near future.” Austin said, and with that the two of them went back to minding their own business and left Will feeling confused.

What the Hades was that all about?

…

That evening during the campfire and sing-along Will kept glancing over at Nico. He was a little more conscious of the other boy since it was pointed out to him how obvious his feelings were for the son of Hades. He felt his face heat up slightly but chose to blame it on his close proximity to the fire. That was it, totally not him feeling flustered thinking about if Nico had figured out how he felt about him and just chose to say nothing, nope not that at all.

…

Will was so busy looking at Nico periodically that he missed the glances being sent his way.

Over across the fire sat the Iris campers and Jeremy kept looking over to where Will was sitting and noticed just where the blond’s eyes kept wandering, he also glanced over towards Nico but out of jealousy, not admiration.

Austin and Kayla scanned the faces of both Nico and Jeremy. It seemed that Nico had noticed eyes on him and would blush if he noticed Will but sent a confused glance towards the new guy.

This was gonna be interesting alright. And it seemed Will was pretty clueless about the whole thing.

…

Will met Nico’s eye and they both looked away blushing while the flames changed color slightly, sending up sparks of pink mixed with green here and there but most people didn’t notice as the singing continued until Chiron told them it was curfew time and all campers were to return to their cabins for lights out.

Will led the way back to cabin 7 and along the way began walking next to Nico. He smiled at him and decided to try and have a normal conversation that hopefully wouldn’t result in his face heating up hotter than the lava wall. “Hey Nico, did you enjoy the sing-along tonight?” he asked and Nico shrugged.

“About the same as every night. How about you?”

Before Will could answer someone else walked up beside him and tapped him on the shoulder, he looked over and smiled a greeting to Jeremy, but he didn’t see Nico frown slightly at the interruption.

“Hey Will, the sing-along was pretty interesting huh?” Jeremy said as he smiled at Will. “That fire is pretty cool though.”

Will nodded to be polite. “Yeah, the colors change according to emotions.”

…

Will missed the look on Nico’s face but Jeremy saw it and took some pride in being able to come between them so easily. Will was better off talking to someone who was actually interested in talking to him.

“Hey do you think I could sit with you and your cabin next time?”

Before Will could say anything though Austin caught up with him. “Oh hey, you’re Jeremy right? I’m Will’s brother Austin. Did you like the sing-along?” he asked in a friendly tone and walked beside Will and ended up pushing him minutely towards Nico as they walked. “Did you have a favorite song tonight?”

Jeremy glanced over at Will but talked to Austin anyway. “Uh, I couldn’t really follow them just yet, guess I’ll just have to hear them a few more times to learn them.” he said.

“Oh, well that’s okay, if you want to learn any of them faster you can talk to me. I’m pretty good with the whole music thing.”

Jeremy nodded politely. “Thanks but maybe Will could help me with that.”

…

Nico made a snorting sound that may have been a laugh and Will’s face went red. Jeremy looked like he was going to say something but Will cut in to clear up any misunderstanding.

“I didn’t get that gift from either parent actually. My mom is a country singer and my dad’s the god of music but I lack pretty much any talent for it. But Austin is great with it so why not take him up on the offer?” Will said with a slight laugh and a smile.

“I’ll think about it.” Jeremy said and Austin nodded.

“You should probably get back to your cabin, don’t want to get caught out here after lights out in case the patrol harpies see you.” Austin said patting Jeremy on the shoulder with a smile.

Will nodded in agreement. “That’s right, it’s easy to get lost in the dark when you’re still new.”

Jeremy looked over at Nico. “What about him? He’s not walking with anyone.”

Austin laughed and shook his head. “Oh trust me; Nico’s element is the dark. But he’s alone in his cabin so Will usually walks him there after the sing-along. Anyway there’s your cabin there so I guess we’ll see you tomorrow.” Austin pointed to the Iris cabin where the rest of Jeremy’s siblings were heading in.

Jeremy left without a word and Austin hung back to walk alongside Kayla and the rest of the Apollo kids while Will stuck with Nico.

Will smiled apologetically at the son of Hades. “Uh sorry about that, you know how excited new campers can get and all.” he rubbed the back of his neck not really sure where to look as they headed to Nico’s cabin that was lit with Greek fire torches that made it stand out in a green glow. Most people found it eerie but Will thought it looked amazing at night.

“Yeah sure, no problem.” Nico said though he seemed kind of distracted.

Will looked at him and saw that Nico looked to be deep in thought about something. “So um, are you going to meet up with us outside cabin 7 in the morning to head over to the dining pavilion for breakfast?” Will asked.

This had become their routine since Nico had been released from the infirmary. At first it was so that Will could make sure that Nico was getting enough sleep and getting to meals okay but after a week or so it had just become familiar and Will looked forward to it each day. He hoped Nico did too but couldn’t bring himself to ask.

“Yeah, same as usual.” Nico said and this time he did look at Will and gave him a small smile that Will returned tenfold.

“Alright, guess I’ll see you in the morning then. Sweet dreams Deathboy.” Will said as he began to head over to his own cabin.

“Same to you.” Nico said heading up to his own door.

Will smiled a little brighter.


	3. Nico's POV

Nico woke up feeling rested and ready to go meet with Will outside of the Apollo cabin. Nico had grown to look forward to waking up and going to the dining pavilion with Will and his siblings. He was surprised how easily they had accepted his constant presence during things like walking to breakfast or back from sing-alongs.

Of course he had been spending time with those from the Argo-II as well but he always looked forward to seeing or talking to Will. He wasn’t really ready to admit it out loud just yet but he didn’t try so hard to hide it since he knew that he had people who would stand with him regardless of how things turned out.

Sometimes Nico would be talking with Will and he would notice the encouraging smiles or knowing looks coming from his friends and he would shoot a glare to them trying to tell them to mind their own business and usually they would take the hint and walk away. But yesterday Nico had noticed something new. Will seemed more flustered since dinner time and Nico wondered what that could be about.

He also noticed the way that new guy looked at Will and he wasn’t very thrilled, especially since when Nico was nearby the guy would shoot him dirty looks like people used to, but this was a little different and Nico wasn’t really sure why. Had he even actually spoken to him? He didn’t think so, so what was his deal?

He even came up and cut off Nico and Will’s conversation last night on the way back to the cabins. Nico didn’t think he’d ever been so glad to see Austin before. Thanks to him that Jeremy guy wasn’t bugging Will, though when he had mentioned Will possibly helping him with the camp songs Nico couldn’t help the sound that slipped out.

Will had once described his singing talent as similar to gargling oatmeal and just the thought of it made Nico laugh anytime it came up. He’d never actually heard Will sing but it was definitely an interesting thought. Even thinking about it now made Nico giggle a little as he finished getting dressed. At least no one had witnessed it though.

Nico headed out and stood by the bottom step of cabin 7 as he heard Will’s voice coming from the other side of the door telling everyone to file in so that they could leave. Nico was glad he didn’t need to deal with herding siblings; it was probably like trying to round up cats in a warehouse full of mice if not worse.

Nico waved as the door opened and Will stepped out leading the rest of the Apollo kids. Will smiled and waved back when he saw Nico there and they soon fell into step walking side by side.

Will started the conversation by asking Nico if he had slept alright last night and Nico nodded.

“Yeah, woke up feeling pretty good today.” But that good feeling left pretty quickly as they joined other campers heading in the direction of the dining pavilion and low and behold Jeremy walks up to Will and greets him while acting like Nico doesn’t exist, great…

“Hey Will, hey Austin.” He says as he sees Will’s brother close by before going back to talking to Will. “So what kind of activities do you usually do during the day? Do cabins tend to join together sometimes or is this like regular summer camp and there’s kind of a camper’s choice time at some point?” he asked seeming interested in how things worked here at Camp Half-Blood.

Nico couldn’t help feeling annoyed. “Why don’t you just ask Butch or one of your cabin mates instead?” He asked trying to keep any impatience out of his tone as best he could.

Jeremy looked over at him as if he were an annoying bug buzzing around but the look was gone before anyone but Nico could notice.

“I felt like asking Will,” he said with an easy shrug, “he seems to know a lot about how things work around here, plus he’s good to talk to.”

Nico clenched his jaw as he kept walking, he knew Will was good to talk to, that’s part of what he liked about him. Then in comes this creep trying to be all chummy with Will while booting Nico to the curb under the guise of _New Camper looking to make friends_ yeah right. The annoying weasel stunk worse than Gale the polecat that hung around Hazel on their way to the House of Hades.

Nico went on ahead not wanting his souring mood to bother Will. He did look back so he missed the disappointed look in Will’s eyes and the annoyed looks Kayla and Austin were trying to hide that were directed towards Jeremy.

…

Nico sat at his table jabbing at his plate in frustration but he stopped and looked up when Jason and Percy sat down with him.

“Hey man what’s up?” Jason asked good naturedly sending a friendly smile his way but it faded slightly when he noticed that Nico seemed to be in a bad mood this morning. “Something wrong?” he asked this time and Percy looked up from his blue pancakes to look at him.

Nico sighed and looked down at his plate. “I don’t know exactly.” he grumbled and Percy and Jason exchanged glances like _Now what?_

“What do you mean?” Percy asked then he looked over towards the Apollo table and back at Nico. “Something going on between you and Will?”

Nico’s head shot up and he looked around a bit nervously but settled down when it was clear that the entire pavilion wasn’t listening in and went back to staring at his plate like it had offended him somehow. “I guess you could say that.”

Before Percy and Jason could ask him to elaborate further someone else spoke up.

“I’d say that’s exactly the problem, looks like the new kid’s trying to beat Nico to Will’s heart.”

All three of them swing around to see Coach Hedge standing behind them. “Coach!” They exclaim happily upon seeing the old satyr.

Nico felt his spirits lift tremendously and looked around and sure enough he saw Mellie, the Coach’s wife over at the Apollo table with their baby Chuck. She had just handed him over to Will who was smiling like the sun as he made faces and silly noises at the baby and Nico didn’t even try to hide the smile breaking out across his face.

“Wait, what did you mean?” Percy said fixating on what the Coach had said about the new kid.

That brought Nico’s attention back too and he looked at the Coach as well. “Yeah, how do you know?”

Jason and Percy glance at him in question but he ignores them as he waits for Coach Hedge to explain.

“Well yesterday a friend of mine got back from bringing a new camper here and was telling me about him saying how he seemed like an okay kid just kind of skeptical but that’s understandable. Anyway Mellie and I wanted to stop by and say hi but you know how it is, had to drop by and see how Clarisse was and let her spend time with little Chuck but I thought I’d see how you cupcakes were doing and I happened to see the new kid and though he seemed okay outwardly something just didn’t sit right.

“Well I was going to come and talk with you but Mellie and Chuck needed rest so we headed back to the Big House early. I noticed the way the kid kept trying to wrestle his way in between Nico and Will here and I don’t like it one bit.”

Nico felt his face heat up as Coach Hedge talked about him and Will as if they were just another couple like Percy and Annabeth or Jason and Piper. He was glad to know that he had the Coach’s support but it wasn’t like he and Will were actually together or anything…

Jason and Percy took turns looking at Will and at Jeremy and both of them had seen how the new guy kept watching Will. _No this wouldn’t do at all_.

“I say we call in Reyna and have here deal with the little home wreaker.” Coach Hedge said and Percy and Jason seemed to agree, they both knew that Reyna would be the first to rush over and take out anything trying to get in the way of Nico’s happiness.

Nico wasn’t onboard though. “What? No! No you are not calling Reyna, and don’t even think of getting your bat.” he warned but Coach just looked at him innocently.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about cupcake.”

Nico just quirked a non-believing brow at him before turning to face the other two. “And you two stay out of this too. This has nothing to do with you.” he turned up the intensity of his usual glare to get his point across. It may have no effect on Will but thank Olympus it still worked on these two.

“Alright, but if you need us we’re here for you. Just remember that.” Jason said as he conceded and Percy nodded in agreement.

Nico then turned back to the Coach. “So you’ve seriously been watching us since last night?” he asked and the old goat scuffed a hoof against the stone floor of the pavilion.

“Well not exactly, I asked some of the nymphs and naiads to keep an eye out.”

Nico looked horrified by the thought of the local nature spirits watching how things were going between Will, himself, and this new kid trying to force his way into the picture. “You what?!” he asked incredulously.

“Relax, it was only a couple close friends, they won’t tell anyone. Besides if it makes you feel better it seems Will is completely immune to this guy’s advances.”

Nico hated how happy that made him feel but at the same time relief flooded through him at the thought of Will not showing any signs of liking this new guy back.

“The ball’s in your court now kid so make the next move and make sure it counts.” The Coach said before heading over to his wife and child.

“See, even the Coach thinks you have nothing to worry about, just go talk to Will already.” Jason said trying for an encouraging smile.

Nico slouched over in his seat again and leaned his head on his arms atop the table. “Easy for you to say, you already found true love.” He grumbled again. Percy and Jason wanted to argue but didn’t really know what to say.


	4. Mixed POV

Jeremy was really confused when some really pretty woman had walked into the dining pavilion with what looked like a baby satyr and walked over to the Apollo table and started talking to Will. Will had looked so happy holding the baby and making silly faces as his siblings laughed.

“Who are they?” Jeremy asked one of his sisters sitting next to him, from what he’s seen there wasn’t anyone over 18 at camp.

“Oh that’s Mellie Hedge, she’s a wind spirit married to Coach Hedge; he’s one of the satyr protectors like the one who brought you here. That’s little Chuck, their baby. He was born just before that war and Will was the one that helped with the delivery.” She said that like it wasn’t that big of a deal but Jeremy’s jaw dropped as he stared at her.

“He what?!” Will was a medic sure, but he was a kid! What was he doing delivering baby satyrs?

His sister laughed. “Yeah I heard that as soon as it was over he immediately volunteered to go scope out the enemy forces just outside camp. As soon as morning hit the battle began, when it was over he was in the infirmary for like three days or something. I don’t know how he does it.”

Jeremy looked back at Will with a new found respect.

…

After breakfast Jeremy went with his siblings down to the canoe lake and spent the rest of the morning there.

So it seemed this really was like summer camp.

Finally he was given the option of camper’s choice and could go do whatever he wished so he headed over to the Big House to check out the infirmary and see how Will was doing and try to spend some time with him.

When he got there he saw Will sitting on a stool in front of a bed where a younger kid sat while Will wrapped their arm in a bandage.

People sure seemed prone to injury around here, was Will always stuck in here like this?

“Okay Sasha that should be all, next time one of the kids in the Nike cabin challenges you to a race please reconsider.” Will said as he sent the girl off.

“Are you always stuck in here like this?” Jeremy asks as he heads over to where Will was sitting.

Will looked up from the bandages he was winding back up and putting away in a small kit he had next to him. “Oh hey Jeremy. I guess it does get kind of busy around here but this is nothing compared to actual battles so I don’t really mind so much.”

Wow just the fact that he was able to say that so earnestly was amazing, kind of made Jeremy glad that satyr hadn’t found him until after these battles people kept telling him about.

“Still must get exhausting having to take care of the whole camp, if someone gets hurt then you’re the one they go to right?” Maybe if he tried to sympathize Will would see that he cared.

Will shrugged as he got up to put away his supplies. “Well there are others, and Chiron was around far longer than I was and knows much more, plus there’s also Argus who helps out from time to time around camp, by the way if you see the guy with like 100 eyes that’s him.”

Jeremy wasn’t sure he was kidding so with that unsettling thought in mind he decided to change the topic.

“Well maybe if you can get away for a while the two of us could hangout some more. Maybe you could tell me more about camp and what it’s been like living here, how long have you been here anyway?”

Will was about to respond but right then they were interrupted by a knock at the door and Jeremy wasn’t very pleased to see who had gotten in the way of him leaning more about Will.

None other than the prince of darkness, short dark and creepy himself stood in the doorway and had cleared his throat grabbing Will’s attention away from Jeremy.

…

Nico tried his best to ignore the glare being shot his way from the new guy, seriously what was wrong with him? He practically acted like the world owed him a favor or something.

Instead Nico kept his attention on Will who seemed unaffected by the aura coming off the new guy standing by him. Probably for the best.

“You said to stop by this afternoon right Solace?”

The smile on Will’s face almost obliterated any concern Nico might feel about the new guy seemingly trying to drag Will off somewhere, seems Coach was right about Will not noticing anything.

“Yeah, just wanted to make sure everything is fine today like usual. How was training?” Will asked as he went to another part of the room looking for anything he might need in case Nico needed some of Coach Hedge’s nature magic cure to keep the shadows at bay after exerting himself.

Sometimes Nico wanted to roll his eyes at how Will was always pestering him about his powers but since his so called Doctor’s orders had those on lock down there wasn’t any cause for alarm as far as that went.

“Fine. Some of the newer kids in the Aphrodite cabin have started taking part, I guess seeing Piper wielding a sword had quite the impact on them.” He knew there was more to it than that but it was still kind of a touchy subject to mention the other great hero that came from the Aphrodite cabin in the past.

“That’s good, have you tried any other activities since then?” Will asked as he and Nico moved to the usual bed under a window with warm sunlight streaming in. it had become so routine that they just flowed easily into conversation as Will set to work examining Nico.

Maybe just a tiny part of him was glad that in order for Will to detect any lingering shadows in him he needed to hold Nico’s hands and concentrate, and just maybe a small part of that joy was because he saw how annoyed Jeremy was watching them talk so easily and sit on the bed holding hands, well kind of but still.

“Yeah, Annabeth has really taken to arts and crafts recently and drags me along anytime she can since I have so much free time and all.”

Will laughed and Nico hoped his heart didn’t race enough to notice.

“What did she get you guys to make this time?” Will asked as he pulled his hands away and reached for a bottle of Gatorade and handed it to Nico.

“Charm bracelets, here I don’t really have anyone else to give it to and it’s not really my style but I thought you’d like it.” Nico pulled the bracelet out of his pocket and handed it to Will as he accepted the sports drink.

…

Will didn’t know how he managed to keep calm as he accepted the gift from Nico, he smiled like usual though maybe just a bit brighter and wasted no time fastening it around his wrist. “Thanks Deathboy; does this mean I’ll have to join in on one of the classes so that I can make you one too?” he asked jokingly but in all honesty he was so happy.

The band was woven with small charms braded in, some might think they were placed randomly but upon further inspection they seemed to have purpose in their placement. Will would have to look into it more later.

Nico shrugged before drinking some of the Gatorade, Will was glad he didn’t fuss about the nickname anymore.

Will was so caught up in his thought that he had forgotten Jeremy was still in the room until Austin walked in and greeted them.

“Hey you three, it’s almost time for dinner how about we all head out together?”

Will had to try really hard not to let his embarrassment show, how could he get so lost in the moment that he forgot that he had just been talking with Jeremy moments before, not only that but to forget that he was even in the room was pretty harsh seeing as he was going out of his way to be friends and all. He’d have to apologise to him later for being rude like that.

“Sure sounds good, come on Jeremy maybe we’ll see some of the other Iris campers on our way.” Maybe if he met up with his siblings on the way to the dining pavilion he wouldn’t feel lonely or lost, the first few days at camp could be pretty disorienting if you didn’t really know anyone or where things were so it was best to stick with people you knew like siblings.

Will stuck close to Nico though he hoped it was too obvious while Austin chatted with Jeremy and was soon joined by Kayla with the rest of the Apollo kids in tow. Will was glad there were other people ready to talk to the new camper easily.

…

About halfway to the dining pavilion they passes a few Iris kids heading the same way, Jeremy had excused himself and headed over to join them.

Kayla discreetly made sure that no one would over hear them before speaking to Austin. “So how did it go?”

“Will still seems clueless about the whole thing but that seems like a good thing here. I tried for easy conversation with Jeremy but you could tell he wasn’t really focused, like not in the usual way but more like he was too busy watching them to really pay attention.” He nodded towards Will and Nico who were talking freely with one another so easily it was amazing. It’s true what they say when they tell you opposites attract.

“Bonus though, seemed Will has no interest in being anything but friends, he’s too busy trying to sort out his feelings for Nico.”

Kayla snorted a bit. “What’s there to sort out? I’d suggest locking them in a room together and not letting them out until they talk about their feelings but since Nico can shadow travel I doubt that would get us anywhere.”

Austin hummed in response, a simple sound yet still musical. “Will would yell at him for it and then we’d have even more to deal with so probably best to hold off on that plan.”

“Yeah you’re right, think we could just get Piper or Drew to Charm speak them into talking about it?” Kayla asked thoughtfully, there had to be some advantage to having to powerful charm speakers here at camp.

“I doubt it would do much, after all it is harder to influence those with strong minds and these two are about as stubborn as they come.” Austin shook his head as he watched the two boys walking ahead of the group.

“Yeah that’s true… think we could get them to use it to make Jeremy back off?” Kayla asked glancing over at Jeremy who was still stealing glances at Will.

“Negative, seems like he’d be in the same boat.”

The two let out a shared sigh as they tried to figure out their bother’s love life for him.

On the upside at least, Will only seemed to have eyes for their resident Deathboy.


End file.
